Green Recovery Call In 'People's Policy Address'

Environmental activists on Wednesday called on the Carrie Lam administration to come up with a bold vision for a green economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, presenting what they described as "The People's Policy Address" on the day the Chief Executive was supposed to deliver her blueprint.

“A lot of people are concerned about the missing Policy Address, we’re more concerned about the missing policies,” said James Ockenden, editor of the online website, Transit Jam, that covers sustainable transport.

Ockenden, Clean Air Network chief executive Patrick Fung and Designing Hong Kong’s Paul Zimmerman laid out what they believe should be included in a green recovery package as they delivered the alternative policy blueprint outside the government’s headquarters at Tamar.

The call came on the day the Chief Executive was to present her annual Policy Address, before Lam postponed it, saying she wanted time to secure help from Beijing in reviving the SAR's economy.

Fung said the government should be looking into how the city could recover from the pandemic “socially, economically [and] at the same time, healthily and in a low carbon way.”

He said the UK, France and South Korea have spent billions of dollars to look into how to de-carbonise transport, create new jobs in the energy sector, and reduce air pollution and other health risks.

With the Chief Executive in Shenzhen, the activists also urged her to learn from the mainland city.

Fung pointed out that Shenzhen’s entire bus fleet runs on electricity, while in Hong Kong less than 1 percent of the bus fleet is electric. He also said Lam has the responsibility to speak with other regional leaders to make the Greater Bay Area more sustainable, noting that ozone pollution hasn’t improved over the past five years.

Ockenden said it was important that policy initiatives on a green recovery came from Lam as government departments were plagued by a “silo mentality”.

“If there was a mandate from the top that said ‘support sustainable transport, support walkability, support cycling’ then yes, I think they would be much more inclined to push forward, and take the risk and stick their neck out because the CE has given it the green light,” he said.